Leviathans is a tactical miniatures board game and fiction series set in a world very much like our own in 1910, but with some important differences. The first notable change came in 1878, when the powerful electroid fluid was discovered. Electroid held amazing electrical properties—including the power to levitate metal.
Soon, electroid was being used to build “leviathans” of the sky: warships able to fly through the air flew thanks to a combination of electroid tanks for lift and steam engines for propulsion. The Great Powers added weapons to these new craft, though many naval pundits of the day scoffed. Then the Battle of Tsushima brought the Russo-Japanese War (an event which happened earlier in the Leviathans timeline) to an unexpected end when Russian Leviathans soundly defeated the highly skilled bluewater Japanese Navy. This incredible battle was the dawn of the sky fleets.
Since Tsushima, numerous small skirmishes between opposing sky fleets have happened, but no new wars, despite the rising tension. For some, it was only a matter of time before a terrible war between the Great Powers occurred. Then, in 1914, Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serbian assassin. In response, the Austro-Hungarian Empire soon declared war on Serbia, and other powers were drawn into the growing conflagration by alliances or their own self-interest.
The Great War had begun—but not the Great War of our world. The French Republic, the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Italy, and the United States of America allied themselves against the Austro-Hungarian Empire, German Empire, British Empire, and Empire of Japan.
As the great alliances prepare for total war, Russia is now ruled by Anastasia Romanov after her parents and siblings were assassinated, presumably by the British. Japan has seized territory in South America, and America cannot allow that to stand. Italy follows a new Champion into battle.
Armies march across the world, navies sail the seas…and high above the battlefields, the thunder of flying battleships heralds the coming storm.
Dive deeper into the world of Leviathans with Part 1 and Part 2 of the Leviathans Gazetteer.
